The Almighty Dollar

Restoring some fiscal sanity in our -- negative savings rate -- lives

4.28.2006

Pressing your luck could cost you

In this wide world of passwords and PINs, keeping track of your car's permit expiration dates seems like such a hassle. As my friend just learned the hard way, putting off a renewal could cost you double or even triple the original amount.

His tags and parking permit expired four months ago, but until this week, he had been driving and parking on DC roads without incident. I guess you can say he's been lucky. Well, his luck ran out on Monday when his car got towed.

Sometimes he can be a bit flighty, but the bottom line is he didn't want to pay the $87 to renew his permits. Now it appears he will have to pay more than triple that amount to get his car back up and legally running. Here is the breakdown of costs:

Not to mention all the time he's spent trying to clear up this mess. His friend took him to the towing lot twice, and both times left without the car. First time the lot was closed. Second time they refused to let the car off the lot without proof of registration payment. At the DMV, he waited in line (of course!) to learn that his safety inspection had also expired, therefore, he could only get a temporary permit for his car. Since the towing lot is open during work hours, he cabbed it to the lot during lunch, and finally got his car.

Phew! And that doesn't include the horror he'll face at the safety inspection station...

(P.S. My husband points out that this presumes his car indeed passes inspection and no additional service work is needed!)

4.27.2006

Re-evaluating our portfolio

Although I've been absent from blogging, this past week has been quite important for me PF-speaking...

My husband and I have spent most of last weekend and early this week re-evaluating our retirement portfolio. It's been an encouraging experience overall, seeing how much it has grown due to healthy returns and diligent saving on our part.

We are in our early 30s (I'm 30, he's 32) and didn't really begin socking away money for retirement until a few years ago. Before that, we focused on saving as much as we could for our wedding and a home down payment. While things worked out okay, I still wish we had put more aside in our IRAs back then.

What frustrates us most is having our retirement savings spread out in multiple accounts: brokerage, traditional and roth IRAs, SEPs, and recently a self 401K. To reduce our taxable income, we focus first on maxing out our tax-deferred accounts. However, since the maximum contributions in IRAs are so small (only $4000), it's hard to build a portfolio in these accounts when the required minimum fund purchase is often $2500. So we really have to focus on the bigger picture and not get bogged down in each individual account.

I think it's wise to regularly monitor your investments. Make sure you like what you have, dump what you don't, and look for something new. Markets and industries change, and your portfolio should be smartly balanced for the times. When we started out, it was difficult to build a diversified portfolio with our small holdings. We did our own research and bought a handful of mutual funds in different categories. Over time, we dumped a couple that were underperforming and bought new ones, all with a longer-term outlook in mind.

Now that our portfolio is over $100,000, we wanted to examine our investments and make sure we were spread out enough. We felt that we were not well-balanced. Basically, we were heavy on a medical/health fund and were lacking in small-cap exposure. Also, our large cap fund has ballooned and was recently closed to new investors. While it's performed admirably, we are beginning to look into other large cap funds that are smaller and more nimble.

4.21.2006

Know of a truly accurate retirement calculator?

Every once in a while, either myself or my husband will plug our numbers into online retirement calculators to see how we are doing. This exercise helps us to stay focused on our goals, motivates us to continue socking away money, and to be honest, we find it pretty exciting (I know, we're nerds).

However, I have yet to find a comprehensive calculator that takes into account both tax-deferred (401Ks, Traditional IRAs) AND non tax-deferred savings (Roth IRAs). Can you point me to an online calculator like this? Surprisingly, I can't seem to locate one, although it seems easy to make one up. If I knew how to create it, I would.

4.20.2006

Mom and Dad to the rescue

The New York Times highlights the increasing burden of parents supplying financial assistance to kids (can I say adults?) into their 30s.

A study by the Institute of Social Research says 34% of those aged 18 to 34 get cash from Mom and Dad every year. Parents help in other ways, giving generous presents, cars, and down payments for homes.

I know it depends on each individual's situation, but generally, I think the sooner we are able to support ourselves, the better. It's not the same when there's always a cushion to fall back on.

4.19.2006

Not all bbq grills are created equal

In anticipation of hosting guests at the end of this month, my brother had mentioned wanting to buy a new lawnmower and grill. Since they are arriving this weekend, I asked if he had bought them yet. While he still plans to get the lawnmower, he has decided to wait on the grill until next summer.

I should tell you now -- grills are a sore spot for me. My condo is on the first floor and has a beautiful, private patio perfect for outdoor dining and relaxing. Gas grills were permitted when we moved in, and we immediately got one. For a year, we savored many grilled chicken breasts and kabobs by candlelight. But, unexpectedly, the association switched to a new master insurance plan that prohibited grilling of any kind at some distance from the building. (Apparently, this is a DC law but no one complies!) So we were forced to get rid of the grill and miss it terribly.

My brother doesn't have these restrictions and certainly has the space for it. He and his fiance bought a new home last winter. They chose to forego a patio, because they planned to build a backyard deck. This project has been slated for next year.

He told me that the grill he wants is very expensive, so he doesn't want to spend the money on it now. Instead, he plans to buy it next year after they've built the deck. Since I'm in grill-denial, it seems silly to waste two summers without bbq just so he can have an ultra-lux, stainless-steel, triple-burner grill (an assumption, but knowing my brother, I'm probably right).

I said, who cares what it looks like, as long as it grills well? He said, looks matter.

Yes, you read that correctly, and we weren't talking about Dolce & Gabbana jeans. For god's sake, it's a grill.

4.18.2006

Keeping secrets about money

There are days when I miss my family so much and wish that I lived closer to them. But those feelings evaporate instantly when the topic of money comes up.

Over the phone, I was explaining to mom why my husband had to cut short the visit to his parents' house this past weekend. It's a long, complicated story, so I'll spare you the details.

Basically, he drove back to DC in order to make a last-minute IRA deposit for his parents on Monday. The contribution would give them an additional tax refund of $1400.(Later, we realized they could have mailed it, but just in case, he wanted to make the deposit in person.)

Anyway, the trip was worthwhile, because we learned a lot about his parents' financial situation. It's a relief, since they've kept us in the dark until now. We never wanted details, only a general idea of where they stood. After they talked about wanting to retire in 5 years, the numbers show that's not a realistic option. Even still, they are much better off than my parents, who are older and have almost nothing saved for retirement.

Whenever I discuss money with my mom, she gets very defensive. She says it's insulting when I mention how unprepared they are for old age. She tells me not to worry, that she is capable of working if something happened to my dad. When I say I'm being realistic, she says I am crushing her hope and optimism. Then she accuses me of expecting them to save every penny until their death -- thus never enjoying life. And predictably, she points out that we all lead different lives; she has her way, I have mine. End of conversation.

It astounds me how often I see people reject sound financial advice. Some people feel ashamed, because they know they haven't been doing the right thing. Others get defensive, because they feel stupid for being ignorant. And then there are people like myself, who are open to any advice or criticism that could help improve my life.

I think the worst thing people can do is to NOT ask questions, especially when it comes to finances.

Seeing that most of us aren't money experts, the only way to obtain information is to seek it out. That's why I value the pf blogging community. It's a give-and-take atmosphere and a great network of people from various backgrounds. Keep up the blogging and sharing!

4.14.2006

That gym membership can help you retire

Consider your gym membership to be an investment in your retirement, according to USA Today. With the ever-rising cost of health care, staying healthy could save you tons of money in the future. I mean hundreds of tons of dollars in savings -- about $200,000 per couple.

A Fidelity study reports that a couple retiring today would pay this amount towards health costs over a 15-year period, a third of which would pay for prescription drugs. What's scarier is that this number does NOT include dental or long-term care, or over-the-counter medicine costs.

Not only is being healthy good for the mind and body, it's good for your wallet -- in the long run.